Teen could plead to shooting 2 at York High football game

A juvenile who was just 15 when he allegedly shot two men at a York High football game — allegedly endangering about 2,000 people in the process — could plead guilty next week in York County Court.

Now 17, Stephon Damieen Brown of Reading, Berks County, is charged as an adult and has been held in York County Prison on $250,000 bail since Oct. 14, 2016. He's had two birthdays while locked up and still isn't old enough to vote.

He remains charged with two counts of aggravated assault, 2,000 counts of reckless endangerment and one count each of carrying a firearm without a license, illegal firearm possession by a minor and criminal mischief.

Brown appeared in York County Court on Tuesday, July 31, for a status hearing on his case.

At the hearing, defense attorney Korey Leslie agreed to keep Brown's case in adult court, rather than fight to have it transferred to juvenile court, according to senior deputy prosecutor David Maisch.

Guilty plea possible: Brown's next hearing, a pretrial conference, was then scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 7, according to court records.

"Between that time and now, attorney Leslie and I will be discussing the case and seeing if there's any kind of proposed resolution we can present to the court," Maisch said.

"I'm hopeful a plea agreement will be entered next week," Leslie told The York Dispatch.

Maisch said if he and Leslie can reach a tentative agreement, the York County District Attorney's Office will then reach out to victims in the case and the officers who investigated it, to get their input.

"We're hoping for a mutually agreeable resolution to the case," Maisch said.

Stephon Brown(Photo: Submitted)

Teen fugitive: Brown spent five weeks on the lam before being captured in a Lancaster home on Oct. 14, 2016.

York City Police said he has family in York City, and it's believed he was living in York before the double shooting.

Known as "Mouse," Brown is accused of shooting York City brothers Darius Allen, then 24, and Antwan Jackson Jr., then 20, about 9:30 p.m. Sept. 9, 2016, outside the Small Athletic Field football stadium during William Penn Senior High School's home opener against Lancaster County's McCaskey High School.

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York City Police search for evidence at Small Athletic Field after a shooting injured two people at a York High football game on Sept. 9, 2016.
(Amanda J. Cain photo)(Photo: The York Dispatch)

Police filed the 2,000 counts of reckless endangerment against Brown after estimating the attendance inside Small Athletic Field the night of the shooting.

According to York City Detective First Class George Ripley, there was a verbal disagreement inside the stadium, which then moved outside. The three people involved grew to eight, he said, and included Allen, Jackson and Brown's friend.

Security footage from the high school showed that it appeared the confrontation resolved itself, and Allen and Jackson started to walk away, the detective has said.

Something caused Allen to turn around, at which point Brown shot him, Ripley said. After Allen was shot, Jackson started to chase down Brown but also was shot by Brown, according to the detective.

"You see people in the parking lot, flinching and taking cover, including the police officers there," Ripley testified at Brown's preliminary hearing in December 2016.

At the time, there was a crowd of people in the parking lot that included families with little children, who also were forced to duck and run for cover, he said.

Duck and cover: Additionally, Brown fired in the direction of the still-filled stadium, thereby endangering those inside, according to Ripley.

"You can see people ducking and covering in the stadium," he said.

Three vehicles were struck by bullets as well, Ripley said.

Allen was shot in the stomach, while Jackson was shot in the upper right side of his back.

Ripley said it appears there were two shooters — that Brown was firing with a .40-caliber and that a second person fired a .380 firearm toward Brown. Neither weapon has been recovered, he said.

According to the detective, it was not a shootout. He said the second person didn't begin firing until after both brothers had been shot and Brown was fleeing.

— Reach Liz Evans Scolforo at levans@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @LizScolforoYD.